


Time & Tide

by ElliotGrey



Series: Final Fantasy Musings [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Asexual Character, Au Ra (Final Fantasy XIV), Au Ra Raen (Final Fantasy XIV), Au Ra Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Au Ra Xaela (Final Fantasy XIV), Beginnings, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen, Jacke/Cendres sort of ish, because yeah it's there, but also kinda not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 06:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12524984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElliotGrey/pseuds/ElliotGrey
Summary: Many years ago, Cendres Grey tumbled into the Ruby Sea.First picked up a pirate ship, then retrieved into the care of the Yellow Jackets, she eventually found herself in the land of Eorzea.Since then, her life has changed in more ways than she could ever have imagined.





	Time & Tide

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'll be honest, this is something written to help develop my FFXIV Character. My group of friends and I started doing stuff like this together and its been really fun.  
> I wanted to contribute in some way and, unlike another of my friend's who is an amazing artist, I can't draw, so I figured I might could write a bit.  
> Don't expect much from these, they're really just for fun and my personal enjoyment.  
> Have a lovely day <3
> 
> Updated 09/15/18  
> **Some small changes have been made due to further character building**

It had been almost an entire day since he’d left on his mission.

Cendres Grey shifted anxiously from side to side, tracing a finger over the map in the center of the table. She should have insisted on going with him, but she’d been very tired. He’d tucked her ever more firmly under the covers, insisting he’d be back before she even knew it, so she’d let him go. Alone.

The young woman chewed her bottom lip, mismatched red and grey eyes fixed on the large double doors across the room.

“Worryin yerself sick won’t do no good, Cen,” a red-headed Miqo’te, V’kebbe, murmured, resting her hand on Cendres’ shoulder. “Why not go fer a walk? Just to the end o’ the dock? Tis a full moon tonight.”

The younger woman stared at the door for a moment longer before her shoulders drooped and she acquiesced to being shooed away.

“What? She still frettin?” Perimu asked, looking over from where he was practicing throwing knives.

“O’course, what’d’ya think? I sent ‘er out fer giggles?” V’kebbe glared at the lalafel. “Ye know how it is with those two.”

“Oh, aye,” Perimu rolled his eyes. “One faffs off fer more’n a minute or two and th’ other spends the rest o’ the night fussin.”

“Hush,” V’kebbe snapped. “Yer a right mean little thing sometimes.”

 

Outside, Cendres sat at the end of the dock with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Not for the first time, she pondered the strangeness of this new life of hers. She’d come to it not that long ago, brought to it by the leader of the Rogues’ guild, Captain Jacke.

He’d found her almost two year ago. She’d been surrounded by several men--traders, bandits, every day farmers, she had no idea which, only that they meant her harm--when he’d stumbled across her.

She remembered the day vividly. Moon Moon, her direwolf, had wandered off somewhere to hunt and, shortly after, she’d decided to do some hunting of her own. She was tracking a rabbit when she realized she’d ventured too close to the main road. Before she knew what was happening, the men were there, laughing as they closed in around her.

She’d had the small, stone dagger she used to hunt, but it wasn’t much and they outnumbered her five to one. Gritting her teeth, she’d settled into a crouch and waited for the first attack to come.

They hadn’t come all together, or else she’d never have had a chance. Two of the men swaggered forward, calling to her with words she didn’t understand. The sound of their voices made her stomach lurch.

When the first man reached her, she lashed out, her makeshift weapon drawing blood on his reaching hand. He scowled and lunged for her, tripping as she skipped backward. The other helped him up and they moved together the next time.

By the time Jacke had come across them, the first two men were down and she’d lost her knife. He said the sight--a tiny woman with black horns and a tail, her small hands curled into claws and her eyes wild, facing down men more than twice her size--was one he’d never forget.

She’d sported more than a few injuries of her own at that point. One of the men had blacked her right eye and her lip was split and bleeding. Other than that she could tell she had at least one broken rib and several small cuts in various places on her body.

Jacke had taken one look at the situation and jumped right in. She hadn’t known who he was, but he was blocking her attackers path and she didn’t have the energy to be suspicious.

She’d watched in muted admiration as he whipped them soundly and then tied them together for the “yellow jackets”--whatever those were-- to find.

Then he’d turned to her. She’d eyed him wearily, thankful that he’d come along when he did, but still unsure what to make of him. He was talking at her, spouting words that had no meaning. He talked and he talked and he talked before he finally realized she wasn’t going to answer back.

“Can ye even understand me?” He’d asked and she’d frowned taking a step back. All his talking had given her a headache. Or maybe that was the bruise by her left temple, she couldn’t be sure.  

They’d simply stared at each other for a time then. She hadn’t had the energy to run. Even if she had, after watching him in action, she’d doubted she could get away easily.

Slowly, he’d raised his hands, so she could see that he wasn’t holding anything, and then took a step toward her. She’d cocked her head to one side, watching him closely as he drew nearer. Finally, when he was within arms reach, he’d stopped.

“I won’t hurt ye,” he’d murmured, showing her his empty hand again, before reaching out to her. “I only want t’ help.”

She’d frozen like a startled animal when his hand made contact with the corner of her swollen eye.

“Let me help ye,” he’d said, holding out his other hand.

Just like that, all the fight went out of her and she’d collapsed into his waiting arms. He’d gone to his knees then, holding her gently and looking her over with concern.

Moon Moon chose that precise moment to return from his hunt.

The direwolf had growled low and dangerous, and Cendres had thought Jacke would run. He’d surprised her by pulling her closer and shifting so that she was behind him.

With a start, she’d realized he was trying to protect her. She’d struggled in his grip then, pushing till she could look her wolf in his eyes. After taking in her stern expression, the wolf sat down, tongue lolling from his mouth, and yipped happily.

“Friend of yours?” Jacke had asked and she’d simply stared at him with through her one good eye. “If I take ye, I ‘magine he’ll be comin too, is that the way of it?”

Again, she’d only blinked at him.

The man had shaken his head, then risen, gathering her in his arms as he went.

“I don’t know how ye got here, or where ye came from, but I’m certainly not goin t’ turn a blind eye to ye. What’s a mite like ye doin out here all alone, anyroad? I’d like to shake them that left ye meself if I ever get the chance.”

His voice had been soft, lilting and gentle, not like the others she’d heard before. It hadn’t made her stomach turn, instead it had seemed to lull her. When next he’d looked down, she was asleep in his arms, a sight he would become used to in the future.

After that, she was a Rogue. The guild had adopted her and Moon Moon with relative ease, needing only a stern look from their leader before they accepted their strange new members, and she’d been with them ever since.

It had been difficult, she didn’t trust easily, and she’d spent much of her first few months glued to Jacke’s back as he’d tried to introduce her to her new family. She’d hated the noise and the closeness, but she trusted Jacke so she’d made an effort to get better. Once they’d discovered the deaf sailor who spoke with his hands and his wife, things had improved ten-fold.

Cendres had spent days enraptured as the sailor, Jon, showed her movements that meant so much while being so small. His wife had spent countless more hours with her, drilling word after word into her mind. The first hurdle, the woman had explained, was helping Cendres make sense of all the words being thrown at her. She would never be able to use sign language if she didn’t understand what the signs meant.

She’d used children's books at first; tales of fluffy kittens and curious babes with simple words and phrases started the process. Days and days were spent on trips into town to teach her the names of foods, and fish, and people, and objects. Everything had a name, even feelings and other intangible concepts, like beauty, kindness, and love. Before long, Cendres had been reaching for more advanced novels and tomes, fascinated with the new world beginning to reveal itself to her.

Besides being her teachers, the couple had become something like parents to Cendres. When they had accepted the job, they had insisted she live with them while she was learning. It would be much easier to teach her if she was right there with them every day.

The sailor’s wife, Marie, had brushed her hair in the morning and sang her to sleep at night. Learning excursions became shopping trips in which Cendres returned with clothes and books and all other manner of treats.

Jon had taught her to fish and made her laugh with ridiculous jokes and, though he couldn’t sing them himself, bawdy song lyrics that would have made his wife swat at him. He taught her the importance of presence, knowing how to conduct herself in a way that not only drew attention, but commanded respect. Tiny but mighty, he called her, and he was right, and her lion's-heart grew stronger each day.

During all this, Jacke would come to visit and take part in her lessons. He wanted to help her learn and learn with her as well;  occasionally, he would even bring several members of the guild along. After all, what good would sign language do her if no one understood it?

They would spend the days learning together and then at night, Jacke would take her for walks around the city. Marie liked Cendres to be in bed early so she could be up early for lessons the next day, so Jacke would make a big show of leaving after dinner, only to return later and knock on her window, grinning mischievously.

Many nights, their walks were spent with Jacke teaching her the Rogues’ code or how to run, and jump, and climb (he saved actual fighting lessons for much later). But sometimes they would simply walk together in companionable silence and then sit on the docks to watch the sun rise. Cendres had liked these times best, when they would sit close together, her head resting on his chest with his arm wrapped loosely around her, and the whole world as quiet as she was. She lived that way for nearly a year, flourishing under the gentle guidance of kind people.

When the time came for Jon and Marie to leave, Cendres had been inconsolable. She had clung to them, weeping openly, with a desperation she had never known before and they held her just as tightly.

“You watch out for my girl, Jacke,” Marie had said as she’d stroked Cendres’ back soothingly. “And don’t you dare slack on her learning. She’ll need books, lots of them. She’s too smart to stop now.”

Jacke had smiled, his eyes sad. He hadn’t wanted them to go either, had tried to convince them to stay, but Jon was a sailor and he could only stay ashore for so long before the ocean called him back. And where Jon went, Marie followed.

Jon had pulled Jacke aside while Marie did her best to dry Cendres’ tears.

_Keep taking her for walks at night,_ he signed, shocking the younger man. _She loves the stars and the moon, but mostly she loves the quiet._

The older man had paused for a moment before adding, _And you._

Jacke had coughed, turning crimson, and, as if to prove Jon’s point, Cendres had appeared at his side, concerned in spite of her own emotional distress.

He had waved her off, thankful when Jon distracted her with a flurry of signs.

_You gonna get into trouble while we’re gone?_ He had asked and Cendres grinned through her tears.

_As much as I can manage._ She had signed back.

_Good, you’re still young, make as much mischief as you can before you get old like me._ He had hugged her tightly, then handed her a simple, black leather wristband. She studied it for a moment before smiling, her eyes determined.

Etched into the leather were the simplified written symbols that represented a signed phrase--words to live by, he’d told her--that he had driven into her mind from their very first lesson together.

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

_I’ll make you proud,_ she had promised

_You already have._

And then they were gone.

 

* * *

 

 

After that, her rogue training had begun in earnest. She’d already showed some promise with a dagger, so it hadn’t taken long before she was moving on from the basics. She already knew how blend in, but Jacke taught her to hide in plain sight, using her small size to her advantage. Under his strict tutelage, Cendres had risen swiftly in guild ranks, earning her place at his side as his partner in arms.

Jacke still kept up with her book learning, just like he’d promised, as well as their nightly walks.Though, the more skilled she became, the less their walks became about extra training. Most nights they spent simply sitting on the docks together while Jacke pointed out patterns in the stars called constellations.

One night in particular stood out in Cendres’ mind. It had been raining for almost a three days in a row so they’d had to stay in. Well, they hadn’t **_had_ ** to, Cendres actually liked walking in the rain, but Jacke said he’d rather not get is clothes all soggy if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Cendres had been lonely sitting in her room all alone, missing his warmth at her side. She’d stared out the window, until she nodded to herself, making what she considered to be a very logical decision. Just because they couldn’t go for their walk, that didn’t mean they couldn’t still sit together. And with that, she’d gathered her blanket around her and shuffled her way over to his bedroom door.

She’d hesitated, shifting from foot to foot anxiously, not realizing there was an audience growing behind her. Perimu, V’kebbe, and several of her other guildmates stood clustered together at the end of the hall, eyes glued to the tiny, horned woman.

“A hundred gil she chickens out,” Perimu whispered.

“I’ll take that bet and make ye live t’ regret it,” V’kebbe replied with a smirk. “Me girl’s got spunk.”

As if on queue, Cendres had squared her shoulders and slipped into Jacke’s room.

Perimu scowled, muttering darkly as he dropped the promised gil into V’kebbe’s waiting hand.

It was very dark, the only light came from a small lamp on the far side of the room, and Cendres had worried again that maybe she was making a mistake. She’d shuffled her feet as her eyes slowly adjusted to the low light, not sure where to go from there. Once she could see again, she’d gathered her courage and tiptoed over to the bed.

He was fast asleep, his nightshirt rumpled from having shoved the covers off at some point. He’d looked so peaceful and Cendres had immediately felt guilty. She was being selfish, he spent nearly all his time with her during the day, the least she could do was let him rest at night.

Without thinking, she’d reached out and brushed his bangs off his forehead. He’d stirred and she yanked her hand back, freezing. He shifted onto his side and, when she’d thought he was settled, she’d turned to leave.

His warm hand had closed around her wrist before she could so much as take a single step toward the door.

“Cendres,” His voice had been rough and warm from sleep. “What’re ye doin here?”

She’d stared down at the floor, too embarrassed at having woken him to meet his eyes.

He’d sat up, tugging gently on her wrist until she was facing him. Seated, they were roughly the same height. He’d relaxed his grip on her wrist, content that she wouldn’t run away now that she knew he was awake.

He’d studied her then, while she continued to refuse to meet his gaze.

She was dressed in a simple, white nightgown and her jet black hair, normally tied back in a braid, fell loosely around her shoulders. The blue-black scales on her arms, face, and throat glowed in the low lamplight. She’d held a blanket around her before, but she’d dropped it when he’d grabbed her.

He’d picked it up from where it had pooled at her feet, wrapping it around her shoulders.

He’d continued to watch her calmly, until her hand had come up, a finger tracing the letters Marie had spent so much time teaching her onto his wrist.

_Lonely._

He’d pulled on the blanket, drawing her closer, and she’d wrapped her arms around his neck. It had been a little difficult, maneuvering them both back until they could lie down comfortably, but he’d managed. Eventually she’d wriggled until her head was pillowed on his chest, one of his arms wrapped around her waist. They’d slept that way every night since.

The wind picked up and a gentle rain began to fall, bringing Cendres back into the present day. She shivered slightly and pulled her knees in a little closer. Still though, thinking back on that night made her wonder even more. What was their relationship exactly?

Jacke certainly didn’t treat her like so many other men she’d seen treat their women. They didn’t kiss, they didn’t go on “dates” (unless you counted their nightly walks), and they certainly didn’t have sex.

Cendres wrinkled her nose at the thought. She’d never understood the fascination so many others seemed to have with the act. To her it just seemed like a lot of fuss.

V’kebbe had been shocked when she’d told her as much a few weeks ago.

“But! Don’tcha…? I dunno--when ye look at Jacke, how’s that make ye feel?” She’d asked.

Cendres blinked, confused. _Happy?_ She signed hesitantly.

“Well, okay, yeah, but...what about when he’s got his shirt off?” The Miqo’te insisted, nodding to herself as though she’d said something that would explain it all.

Cendres frowned, raising an eyebrow. _Worried he will get cold?_

Apparently, when Cendres looked at Jacke, she was supposed to find him “attractive”. She didn’t really understand what that meant. V’kebbe said it was similar to thinking he was handsome, only stronger. Cendres had been confused, what did aesthetics have to do with anything? Jacke was handsome, yes, just like V’kebbe was redheaded and Perimu was short.

V’kebbe put her head in her hands when Cendres relayed this opinion. “Yer a right strange one, Cen. A right strange one.”

Cendres didn’t really understand why she was so strange, she’d felt like she’d given appropriate answers. She’d asked Jacke about it later that night and he’d nearly choked on his glass of water, so she’d just decided not to talk about it anymore. It wasn’t as though it was particularly important, Jacke never brought it up, so why should she be concerned?

 

She shook her head, shelving the matter for a later time. The rain was picking up and she decided she’d better head back inside.

Before she could move, a warm, broad chest pressed against the line of her back and a pair of legs appeared on either side of her own.

Grinning, she tilted her head back to look up into Jacke’s face.

“Missed me then?” He asked with a grin of his own.

She nodded and tucked her head under his chin.

_You are late._ She scolded, tracing the letters on his knee. _Very late._

“I know, I’m sorry,” he muttered against her hair.

She shifted on to her knees, facing him. _Next time, wait for me,_ she signed.

“Ye needed the sleep.”

Her mismatched eyes caught his and held on tight. She didn’t need signs or letters for him to know what she was saying this time. He stared back at her, giving her look for look, then sighed and rested his forehead against hers. “I know, me too.”

They stayed that way for only a moment before Jacke rose, lifting her up with him. “Let’s go,” he said, taking her hand in his and heading toward the guild. “Ye’re soaked through to the bone, how long have ye been out here anyway?”

As he opened the door and the calls of their friends met her ears, Cendres smiled. So much of her life had changed in the few years she’d arrived in Eorzea. Much of her time there had been difficult and perilous, but even more had been filled with joy. She had friends who loved her, a place to call home, and the ability to communicate.

She turned to look at the sky one last time before following Jacke inside. A few stars still shone boldly through the clouds, forming a strangely straight vertical line. She followed the line with her eyes and landed on something that made her heart stutter.

Under the eaves of a stall in the distance, stood a woman taking shelter from the rain. Normally, this act wouldn’t stand out as particularly unordinary, however the woman herself did. Ivory horns curved gently on either side of her head, an elegant ivory tail waving behind her to match. She wore a massive axe at her back and a smile that promised adventure.

Cendres’ eyes grew huge in her small face, she had never seen a white horned creature like herself before; she hadn’t even known they existed. Her heart thundered in her ears as the woman stepped out from her shelter to run through the rain. She was gone before Cendres could decide what to do next.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Cendres searched the markets up and down, trying to find any sign of the woman. No one seemed to have any information for her and, as the hours went by, she felt her hope slipping away.

“A bit far from home, aren’t we?”

Cendres spun around and her mismatched eyes immediately locked with the inquisitive blue ones of her quarry.

“Hello there, little one. How far you’ve wandered.” The woman smiled gently, “My name is River.”

Cendres fumbled for the small journal she’d had the sense to bring with her that morning.

_My name is Cendres. Forgive me--what ARE you? Where did you come from? How did you get your horns to turn white? Did you use some sort of dye? Can my horns turn white? Are there others like you or are you an anomaly?_

River’s eyes skimmed down the page for a moment before she started laughing.

“I take it that means you’ve never met a Raen before?”

Cendres shook her head quickly, eyes wide in her pale face.

“Well, this’ll be an interesting conversation then, won’t it?” River asked, turning and heading off in the direction of the Drowning Wench. Cendres stared after her dumbly.

“Come on then,” River called over her shoulder. “Have lunch with me, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

 

* * *

 

Cendres’ life had changed in more ways than she could ever have imagined since she’d found herself in Eorzea. The ocean had carried her away from her old life and into this strange new one.

Staring into River’s eyes as she sat across from her at the inn, Cendres felt that same tide pulling her away once more.

 


End file.
